Moons, Maidens, Mistakes, and Marauders
by Jai Lupin
Summary: James, Sirius, Remus, Peter, Lily. Full moon. Girls. Exploding potions. What's not to enjoy? Rated PG for safety, but I really think it's G...


Disclaimer: I'm sad to say that Harry Potter characters don't belong to me. It's all JKR...  
  
Moons, Maidens, Mistakes, and Marauders  
  
James was sitting under the usual beech tree, his hair windswept and his head resting on the warm, scented bark. His eyes were closed, the better to remember what had happened just moments ago. It was like watching his memory play out on his eyelids like a...what did muggles call it...a movie.  
  
James remembered it clearly. Lily Evans had walked by him. He said casually that he was about to go study for N.E.W.T.s (even though they weren't until next year) to Sirius, and she turned to him. And she SMILED, James thought cheerfully. Then, James had smiled back. Not a big-headed, large ego smile, but a nice, friendly one.  
  
Sirius shouted, "Hey, Prongs! Did Lily kill you or something with that smile?"  
  
James sat up, glanced at Padfoot, and said, "No, I was just congratulating myself on winning another woman's heart." He grinned.  
  
Sirius brushed back is long, black, neat hair, and said, "If anyone's the heart-winning guy here, it's me. Let me remind you that I asked Patil to go to Hogsmeade, and she said yes."  
  
James eyed Sirius before saying, "Well, yeah, but she's liked you forever, hasn't she? Evans used to hate me."  
  
"Because you had a big head."  
  
"Because I was showing Snivelus's underpants to the whole world."  
  
Sirius laughed. James followed suit, but for some reason, what he said wasn't as funny as it should have been. Snape loved the Dark Arts, and if there was one thing James hated, it was a person like Snape.  
  
James still hexed Severus in the corridors, of course. Just not while Lily was around. Even though James could stop attacking Snape, it wasn't his first priority. There was something between the two of them that caused them to whip out their wands every time they were within yelling distance of eachother.  
  
Sirius kneeled down beside James, about to say something else, when Remus and Peter appeared. Remus bent down beside Sirius and sat on his feet, and Peter sat on the other side, cross-legged.  
  
"Full moon's tonight. You lot have your homework done?" Moony asked.  
  
"Of course we've got it done. Stop being the prefect, Remus. We're about to break school rules and meanwhile you're making sure we do it with our essays done..." Sirius said.  
  
Remus laughed, "Well, if you'd just stop turning everything in late, I wouldn't annoy you. Besides, with the detentions you and James are getting twice a week..."  
  
"Relax, we behaved ourselves so we could do this. We always do. Have we failed you before?" James asked innocently.  
  
"Well, actually, there was the time when you threw dungbombs at the teacher's lounge...and the time when you blasted off those fire works in the Great Hall...and the time--"  
  
"Okay, okay. So we've gotten in detentions on full moon night before. But not this time, alright?" James added hastily.  
  
Moony nodded.  
  
Peter was staying very quiet.  
  
"What's with you, Pettigrew?" Sirius asked.  
  
"I--I--got detention--my potion exploded in class..."  
  
"PETER!" James shouted. "Think of Moony! Why'd you land yourself in detention TONIGHT?!"  
  
"I didn't mean to...and YOU've done it before..." Peter squeaked.  
  
"That's because that's just how Sirius and I are! We get in detentions all the time, for the fun of it! How could you let your potion explode TODAY?"  
  
"I put in too much werewolf fur and not enough silver dust..."  
  
"WORMTAIL!"  
  
James would have hit Peter in his anger if it hadn't been for Remus.  
  
"James, forget it."  
  
"Moony, he's missing the full moon!"  
  
"He has a point though. You and Sirius have done it before."  
  
"That was a long time ago! Before we knew how important it was to you! Now we know, and Wormtail here knows too! We keep out of trouble a week before the full moon now-a-days..."  
  
"James, I--I just forgot..." Peter stuttered.  
  
"YOU WHAT?! How could you FORGET the FULL MOON? One of your BEST FRIENDS is a werewolf! We go out EVERY STUPID MONTH TO DO THIS!" James yelled at the top of his lungs.  
  
Lily was right there when he had yelled it. She was just walking by them...only a yard away, when he had given away their secret. Remus's secret.  
  
"Um...James, are you sure you should be yelling that out in the open? You could really hurt Remus's reputation with that..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I know already, it's kind of obvious with Remus being sick every month, but honestly...people will hear you and they won't treat him well at all," Lily said ernestly.  
  
"You know?"  
  
"Of course I know. Anyway, you ought to stop yelling. What was with all the fighting, anyway?"  
  
Remus didn't look very surprised that Lily knew about his being a werewolf. James glanced at him a bit before considering the surprise himself. Lily WAS pretty intelligent. He decided it wasn't much of a shock after all.  
  
James couldn't tell Lily about the animagus secret just now. He found a good enough--and rather true--excuse.  
  
"Oh...er...Peter just forgot about the full moon."  
  
"Oh. Well, I'm going to go and study for N.E.W.T.s. I'll see you all later then!" she waved at them all, smiled at James, and left.  
  
"Man, you're right James. You're the best heart-winning guy in this school! How'd you get through to Evans?" Sirius said.  
  
"I stopped breaking rules around her," James replied, as if this were simple. The truth was, containing his mischief while Lily was around was a very difficult thing to do. 


End file.
